NYC!

This weekend was fantastic! My dear friend, Julie, and I went to New York City to see the musical Wicked! We loved it! We got there Friday night and walked around the city for a few hours. We stayed at a hotel and talked until almost 2 like a couple of teenage girls with no responsibilities. It was fun! We did some more exploring on Saturday morning and saw the show in the afternoon. Then we headed home. NYC is such a busy place, and I've never been anywhere like it.

Lego Statue of Liberty, ferris wheel, and the Wonka section at the Toys R Us store.

I couldn't help but think about how much the children would have enjoyed this store.

 A neat outdoor restaurant in front of the Rockefeller Center.

 The Rockefeller Center. 

There are flags from around the world surrounding the plaza.

 The Manhattan Temple.

This guy was rockin the steel drum in the subway.

 Wicked was wonderful! It is such a clever twist on the story we are all familiar with. The music was amazing, and I particularly loved the voice of the actress who played the wicked witch.

Reality certainly was straight ahead.

That night Emmitt started screaming about 2:30 in the morning because he had thrown up all over himself and his bed. I mean all over. I think the weekend he spent with dad was too wild for him. Had I not just spent more than 24 hours away from him I might have been upset, but I really missed my children so it felt nice to be able to wipe him clean and make him feel better. Mila hopped in bed with me in the morning and was so excited to tell me about all the things they did with dad while I was gone, and I was excited to hear about it too. It's hard to be away from them that long! Thanks, Amos and Julie for making all the arrangements. And thank you, my sweet love for letting me have a fun getaway!

A Week in the Ohio

Sam had work stuff in Minneapolis last week, so instead of flying out from PA, we drove to Ohio and he flew out from there and the kids and I stayed with the fam. It was such a relaxing, but busy week.

We went swimming a few times.

All Emmitt wanted to do was shoot hoops. I started making him come in the water with me to retrieve the ball because he was getting so sweaty.

 I wanted to get a picture of the kids and I. This was the best one. Emmitt was crying to get out of the boat and Mila didn't understand that she wasn't supposed to get into the boat, we just needed a smile. I really love the photos of reality sometimes that remind me what a funny job I have.

Pirates on the high seas.

 A crying pirate. He wasn't having a very good day.

 I had the kites in the trunk that we took to the beach so we played with them one evening, but we only had two so the kids were taking turns.

This prompted Brielle and Mila to try making kites out of paper and sticks. They didn't fly very well, but I loved that they tried. Kids are so creative!

 My sister, Megan, and I let the kids stay up until it got dark one night so we could do leftover sparklers. Sparklers never get old.

The kids started putting them into the grass because it would start bits of the grass on fire. Kids are such pyros. I know I was. My sisters and I used to start fires on the patio underneath our deck basically every time our parents would leave us alone.  

My favorite spot at home.

Emmitt playing by "the tube" as everyone calls it. It just goes underneath the road to the other side to drain water. I actually really don't like it when they play there. It's too close to the road and there can be quite a bit of mud. Both of which increase it's allure. Mila is fine there, but Emmitt's still too young.

A picnic of fake food and cereal on the driveway.

Slip-N-Sliding!

Mila only went down this one time and decided it was too cold and hurt her bum. She wanted to go back to playing dress up.

Emmitt loved it, but he never quite got the vision of getting a running start to pick up some speed. He pretty much scooted down every time.

He dressed himself. The ensemble included a pink velour shrug he took off one of his cousin's stuffed animals.

We celebrated Brennae's birthday while we were there. The kids wanted to fly kites again so grandma got one for everyone. It was a perfect day for kite flying.

They blew bubbles.

And there was cake, of course.

Caylee, Brielle, Brennae, Braelynn, and Mila (who may not learn to look at the camera without 10 tries until she's 25).

We ended the trip with the traditional trip to Young's Jersey Dairy. We enjoyed tasty ice cream, and the kids couldn't get enough of touching and feeding the animals.

 Especially these cute baby goats.

We miss being at Papa and Nanny's!

And I am officially caught up.

Fourth of July!

I love the Fourth of July! The more I learn about the founding of our country and those who worked tirelessly to make it happen, the more amazed I am at the miracle of it all. Those brave souls who took a leap of faith to claim the independence of the United States of America truly put everything on the line. There was no guarantee of success, and if they failed they would be traitors. Our country has a strong history, that continues today, of brave people willing to give their all for the safety and liberty of others. It certainly makes me proud of my country!

The Hobbys were kind enough to host us, the Pinegars, the Lloyds, and the Gundersons for the celebrations. It was fun to celebrate with the Hobbys because this was Amos's first Fourth of July as an American citizen. We had a fantastic cook out, watched the fireworks from the Bethlehem Steel Stacks, and talked the evening away. 

God Bless the USA!

A Weekend of Birthdays

Two major things happened at the beginning of this month.

1. Sam turned 30!

2. I was finally able to surprise him!

Sam's birthday is July 2, so the Friday night before, I told him our friends, the Coopers, were going to watch our kids while we went on a date, and that they would be working in their backyard so we needed take the kids straight to the back. When he walked in their back gate everyone started singing "Happy Birthday!" We had a cook out, the kids played, and we just had a good time being together. It was perfect!

Amos Hobby with Cambria, Sam and Mila, and Danny Cooper. Just some of the wonderful people here.

 I put 25 candles and 5 sparklers on the cake. The wind blew out almost every candle.

The birthday wish.

I modified a recipe I saw on Pinterest and made an ice cream cake with Reese's cups in the ice cream, a thick chocolate graham cracker crust, fresh whipped cream, chopped Reese's cups, and caramel drizzled on top. It was delicious although it looked like one of those "Nailed it" memes you see on Pinterest where they show what something was supposed to look like and how it actually turned out.

What it was supposed to look like...

 Nailed it!

It melted like crazy!

On his actual birthday, the Coopers really did watch our kids and Sam and I saw Man of Steel in 3D. It was really kind of them since it is a long movie. We enjoyed it!

I can't believe you're 30 Sweetheart!

The next day our friends, the Hobbys, had a birthday party at their house for two of their children, Cambria and Nathan. They are moving to Australia at the end of the year so instead of buying more stuff they would have to pack up they had horses for the kids to ride. It was so much fun for Mila and Emmitt, and they got to ride over and over again!